Water filled ink cartridge pen



Sept, 15, 1959 M GOLDMAN ETL WATER FILLED INK CARTRIDGE PEN Filed Dec. lO, 1957 2 Sheerts-Sheet 1 M. GOLDMAN ET AL WATER FILLED INK CARTRIDGE PEN sept. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS l LDMAN OLDMAN Filed Dec.

` RR GO A G Mrap/wey United States Patent WATER FILLED INK CARTRIDGE PEN Max Goldman and Alex Goldman, Forest Hilis, NX.

Application December 10, 1957, Serial No. 701,889

4 Claims. (Cl. 1Z0-42.15)

This invention relates generally to fountain pens, and more particularly has reference to a fountain pen that is designed to permit the same to be filled with water, with the pen including an ink stick therein against which the Water impinges to produce ink within the pen.

One object of importance is to provide a fountain pen that will be capable of efficient use at far less cost than has heretofore been required, by reason of the adaptability of the pen for using ordinary water as the filling liquid rather than previously prepared liquid ink.

Another object is to provide a fountain pen that will be capable of manufacture at little or no increase in cost above that required for the manufacture of pens not having the desirable characteristics of the invention.

Still another object is to incorporate in the pen a removable means in which the ink stick is conned, said mean being exposed responsive to removal of the nib assembly of the pen. g

Still another object of importance is to provide as the means for holding the ink stick a highly resilient collapsible .container disposed directly within the correspondingly formed ller sac whereby the creation of a partial vacuum in the ller sac will result in the corresponding creation of 'a partial vacuum in the ink stick container, to cause inflowing water to impinge against the ink stick.

A further object is to so mount the ink stick in the reservoir as to cause the ink stick to be exposed to contact by the water over the full length and circumference of the ink stick.

A further object of importance is to provide a pen of the character described which will be compactly formed, will be attractive, and will be characterized by a high degree of eiciency when in use.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings,

rand to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particulary set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part lof this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a view of a fountain pen according to the present invention, partly in front elevation and partly in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section substantially on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the same scale as Fig. 2, substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the same scale as Fig. 2, substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view, substantially on line 5--5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, exploded perspective view of the fountain pen.

Fig. 7 is a View on the same cutting plane as Fig. 5, in which the lling lever has been swung to its operative position.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the lling lever and its pivot pin.

"ice

An elongated, plastic barrel 10 is provided, intermediate its ends, with a filling lever 12, which is pivotally mounted in a suitable, shallow longitudinal recess 13 of the barrel. The lling lever is formed interiorly of the barrel with a Wide pressure arm 5 transversely curved correspondingly to the wall of the barrel and offset from the outer portion 8 of the lever by ears 7 through which extends the pivot pin 6 of the lever, said pin being engaged in the wall of the barrel. The iilling lever, as will be understood, is so pivoted upon the barrel as to cause the same to exert pressure against an elongated sac of soft rubber or similar, non-porous resilient material, in a manner to expel air from the sac, cause a partial vacuum therein, and thereby create a suction which will tend to draw liquid into the sac when the lever is released and returns, under the usual spring bias provided therefor, to the normal position shown in Fig. 1.

It will be .understood that the barrel will be so designed as to receive the usual, elongated cap, not shown, which cap is engageable with either end of the barrel, according to whetherthe fountain pen is or is not being used.

A support sleeve 14, of molded plastic or similar material, is formed intermediate vits ends with an external shoulder 16, provided at the base of an elongated axial extension 18 which in turn merges into a reduced axial projection 20, at the base of which there is an external shoulder 22. The sleeve 14 is thus stepped in diameter, for a purpose to be made presently apparent.

Sleeve 14 is formed with an end-to-end axial bore 24, having intermediate the ends of the sleeve a constricted or reduced portion 26 merging into a counter-bore 2S. This defines, at opposite ends of the constricted portion 26, oppositely facing, internal shoulders 30, 32 respectively (see Fig. l).

Designated at 34 is a ring which may be of ornamentally surfaced metal or the like, press-fitted on the sleeve, 'and bearing against shoulder 16. Abutting against the sleeve is the open end 36 of barrel 10, the barrel having internal threads adjacent the end 36, engageable with external threads 38 formed upon axial extension 18 of sleeve 14. Of course, any other means for connecting the barrel to the sleeve can be provided, `as for example, a press-fit, cement, etc.

Designated generally at 40 is a nib assembly that includes, in a preferred embodiment, a transparent, cylindrical, plastic ferrule 42 having at its outer end threads 44 engaging internal threads formed in the outer end of sleeve 14. When threadedly engaged in the sleeve, the ferrule bears at its inner end against the shoulder 30 (see Figs. 1 and 5), with the inner diameter of the ferrule being equal to the diameter of the constricted portion 26 of bore 24.

Cemented in the ferrule 42 is an elongated feed bar 46, having Ia shallow longitudinal groove or recess 48 (see Fig. 2) for the greatest part `of its length in which snugly engages a transversely curved, elongated nib 50 having the usual point 52, longitudinal slit 54, and air and iluid inlet 56, said slit communicating between the inlet 56 and the point 52.

Also formed in the feed bar, in communication with the recess 48, is a longitudinal passage 58 extending (see Fig. 5) from the inlet 56 to the inner end of the feed bar. At the inner end of the feed bar, the passage 58 is provided with forks 60 (see Figs. l and 2).

In the inner end of the feed bar, there is formed a small axial recess 62 (see Fig. 5) adapted to receive a complementarily formed axial stern 64 integral with a plug 66 Haring in a direction away from stem 64 and merging, at its larger end, into a cylindrical, axial extension 68, thus delining at the base of the extension 68 a circumferential shoulder 70.

An elongated ink stick container 72 yis formed of a in fountain pens.

highly resilient, flexible material such Aas thin soft rubber, and is closed at one end as at 74. The other end is formed open and is adapted to be distended to it tightly over the axial extension 68.

'Extending within rthe container 72 is an ink stick 76, of elongated, solid, rod-like formation. The ink stick is formed of any suitable solidmaterial having pigments of the. desired color. Asatisfactory ink stick is shown in Patent 2,097,256. The material of the ink stick, though cohering when the ink stick is dry, is such as to very slowly dissolve when the ink stick is impinged upon by liquid. However, the ink stick is of such a character thatr the dissolution thereof is very slow, and is confined only to the surface thereof. Thus, a single ink stick may last for a considerable period of time, perhaps many weeks or months, even though the ink stick throughout this time may be continuously immersed in water. i Y

As shown in Fig. 1, the ink stick is of a diameter substantially less than the inner diameter of the tube 72, so that there is a space surrounding the ink stick within the tube or container. Water is adapted to move into and out of this space through ports 78 formed in the container. The ports may be spaced longitudinally of the container as shown in Fig.l l, and at each location of the ports there'is a circumferential series of the same, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The container extends axially Within counterbore 28 and projects at its closed end beyond the inner end of the sleeve 14, into the reservoir 80 yof the fountain pen, said reservoir beingdened within a filler sac 82 of highly resilient, exible material extending the greatest part of the length of the barrel. Sac 82 has a closed end'adjacent the closed, upper end of the barrel. The other end of the sac isV formed open and is distended to sealably engage about the reduced projection 20, in position bearing against shoulder 22. Cement may be applied where the sac is connected to the extension or projection 20, to prevent leakage of liquid from the reservoir 80.

The entire nib assembly 40, which includes not only the ferrule, feed bar and nib, but also the ink stick container 72 and its associated plug 66, can be threaded into or out of the sleeve. This permits the insertion of a new ink stick 76 when the old one has become used up. One need merely remove the nib assembly, after which the container 72 is detached from the -plug for inser/tion of a new ink stick. Alternatively, a completely new cartridge can besold, including an ink stick, its container 72, and its plug 66, which cartridge may be simply engaged in recess 62 in place of an old cartridge that is being discarded.

In use, one inserts the nib in clear water, and operates the lever to exhaust air from sac 82. The air is expelled through bores 28, 26, forks 60, passage 58 and opening 56, and as a result a partial vacuum'is created in the sac, so that liquid rushes into theI reservoir through the passage 58 to replace the exhausted air.

The liquid within the sac freely circulates Within the container through the ports 78, so that it impinges agains the ink stick, causing slow dissolution of the same with the result that the liquid is colored to provide ink. During normal writing operations the ink flows through the passage 58 to point 512 inthe usual manner.

I't has previously been suggested to provide ink sticks K However,r in accordance with the present invention an improved construction is provided, in that on compression of the sac 82 tending to create a4 partial vacuumtherein, air is partially exhausted from thesac 82, and is automatically also partially exhausted from the container 72 due to the fact that the reservoir 80 -and'the interior of thecontainer are in full, continuous communication. Therefore, when water enters the reservoir to replace the' exhausted air, it vWill'rush into the container 72, to replace the air displaced from the container. In this Way, there is an immediate impingement of the water against the ink stick, and it is important to note that said impingement occurs over the full length of fthe ink stick. The area of impingement is thus extended to embrace the full external surface of the ink stick, with this action being heightened by reason of the fact that the ink stick is held in a position ex tending axially within the reservoir, in a manner such that water within the reservoir circulates freely about the ink stick, through the ports 78.

Still further, a light shaking of the barrel will cause the container 72 to swing back and forth Within the barrel, that is, the container 72, being of highly flexible formation, `and being secured only at its base end, whips back and forth within the 'water contained in reservoir 80, thus thoroughly agitating the water in the reservoir to still further effect the free circulation of water within the container 72.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the fact that the arm 5 (see Fig. 7) bears not only against the sac 82, but also against the container 72, when the lever is operated. This exerts pressure against the container in a manner such that the ink stick is broken into pieces, thus aiding in dissolution thereof. Further, the construction and operation results in the water being heavily agitated in the container 72 so as to promote dissolution of the ink stick even more.

While we have illustrated rand described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that We do not limit ourselves to the precise construction herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is'. l

l. In a fountain pen, a barrel, a nib assembly connected thereto, a filler sac extending within the barrel and connected to the nib assembly, means on the barrel for temporarily compressing the sac to exhaust air therefrom for sucking of a liquid through the nib assembly into the sac, a container connected to the nib assembly Within the sac and having openings providing free communication between the interiors of the container and the sac, and an ink stick within the container adapted for slow dissolution when impinged upon by said liquid, said container and sac being coaxially aligned, the container being substantially smaller in length than the sac, said container having a wall formed of a highly resilient, exible material, the container being mounted for free iiexure in a direction transversely of and within the sac so as to be swingable within a liquid confined in the sac lfor agitating said liquid.

2. In a fountain pen, a barrel, a nib assembly connected thereto, a ller sac extending Within the barrel and connected to the nib assembly, means on the barrel for temporarily compressing the sac Vto exhaust air therefrom for sucking of a liquid through the nib assembly into the sac, a container connected to the nib assembly within the sac and having openings providing free communication between the interiors of the container and the sac, and an ink stick within the containeradapted for slow dissolution when impinged upon by said liquid, said container and sac being coaxially aligned, the container being substantially smaller in length than the sac, said container having` awall formed of a highly resilient, exible material, the container being mounted for free exure in a direction transversely of and within the sac so as to be swingable within a liquid confined in the sac for agitating said liquid, the container -being formed open at one end, the pen including a plug removably closing the open end of the container.

3. In a fountain pen, a barrel', a. nib assembly connected thereto, a ller sac extending Within the barrel and connected to the nib assembly, means on the barrel for temporarily compressing the sac to exhaust air therefrom for sucking of a liquid through the nib assembly into the sac, a container connected to the nib assembly within the sac and having openings providing free communication between the interiors of the container and the sac, and an ink stick within the container adapted for slow dissolution when impinged upon by said liquid, said container and sac being coaxially aligned, the container being substantially smaller in length than the sac, said container having a wall formed of a highly resilient, flexible material, the container being mounted for free flexure in a direction transversely of and Within the sac so as to be swingable within a liquid conned in the sac for agitating said liquid, the container being formed open at one end, the pen including a plug removably closing the open end of the container, said plug having a stem separably engageable in the nib assembly.

4. In a fountain pen, a barrel, a nib assembly connected thereto, a ller sac extending Within the barrel and connected to the nib assembly, means on the barrel for temporarily compressing the sac to exhaust air therefrom for sucking a liquid through the nib assembly into the sac, a container connected to the nib assembly within the sac and having openings providing free communication between the interiors of the container and the sac, and an ink stick within the container adapted for slow dissolution when impinged upon by said liquid, said means comprising a filler lever pivoted on the barrel and formed with a pressure arm Within the barrel, said arm being disposed to exert pressure simultaneously on the sac and container.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,450,398 Winter Apr. 3, 1923 2,061,405 Kingman Nov. 17, 1936 2,097,256 Salz Oct. 26, 1937 

